Keys to the New York Mets Second Half Success in 2009

Here are some keys for the Mets to turn things around in the second half.

The first half of the Mets 2009 season was a disappointment to say the least. Injuries and all around sloppy play have led the Mets to a 42 and 45 record 6 ½ games out of first place. There are many who believe the Mets season is over and that they should just lick their wounds and look towards 2010. But while being 6 ½ games out of first place is not ideal, teams have overcome bigger leads in the past. It was only two years ago that the Phillies came back from a seven game deficit with seventeen games to play (sorry for bringing that up). And let us not forget that the 1969 New York Mets were 5 games out of first place after 87 games. Entering September that year they were 4 ½ games out of first place yet they managed to win the division by 8 games. So it is not out of the realm of possibility for the Mets to still make the playoffs.

That being said there are few things that the Mets will need to be competitive in the second half.

1) They need to solidify their starting pitching. Overall the Mets starting pitching was fine in the first half. But to be competitive they will need John Maine to return and for Oliver Perez to be the good Ollie. Especially since it looks like Livan Hernandez is running out of gas and you really don’t know what you are going to get from Fernando Nieve. Both of whom were pleasant surprises in the first half. They also need for Mike Pelfrey to be more consistent. They also cannot afford to waste too many of Johan Santana’s starts. Santana had seven losses in the first half despite only having really one terrible outing.

2) The Mets need to get healthy. We can all agree that the Mets were hit hard by the injury bug in the first half. Playing without three All-Star players for a good portion of the season is tough for any team to overcome. Ideally they need to get Reyes, Beltran and Delgado all back and producing. But getting at least one back would still be helpful. It will also take some of the pressure off of David Wright.

3) They need to play good solid fundamental baseball; the Mets gave away too many games in the first half due poor fielding or poor base running. That trend cannot continue. Physical errors are one thing, but the Mets committed too many mental mistakes in the first half.

4) They need to embrace the fact that they are not a home run hitting team, especially in Citi Field, and start playing some small ball. This is especially true considering they are missing three key run producers in their lineup. Until they return and even after they return they need to manufacture more runs.

If all this falls into place there is no reason why the Mets cannot be competitive in the second half of 2009. You Gotta Believe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!